


Years Can't Keep Us Apart

by StarSparkle2403



Series: Fated Family [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Aromantic Sam Wilson, M/M, Memory Loss, Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Sequel, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-08 16:32:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17389823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarSparkle2403/pseuds/StarSparkle2403
Summary: Clint helped get Steve and Tony together, but getting together with his soulmate will be even harder than he thought.





	1. A Spinning Soulmate Tattoo

He wasn’t the Asset. Not anymore.

He didn’t know who Bucky was either.

He would be the Soldier.

For now.

\----------

The Soldier couldn’t remember anything except that the man on the bridge was his friend.

And that’s all he needed to know until he could find out who Bucky was before the Soldier.

\----------

The Soldier couldn’t be Bucky. He couldn’t be.

Bucky was a flirt. Bucky had a giant smile. Bucky was happy.

The Soldier wasn’t.

\----------

The man from the bridge - no, Steve- and the man with the wings were following the Soldier. He evaded them easily, but something warmed in his chest every time he saw them.

He thinks it has something to do with those tattoos.

\----------

“No luck?” Clint asked Steve when he walked out of the elevator.

Steve sighed. “Nope. He doesn’t want to be found, so we can’t find him.”

“Tony’s been down lately,” Clint said slyly. “I think you should talk to him.”

Things had been weird between Steve and Tony ever since the disappearing shirts fiasco. No one knew exactly what had happened between them, but whatever it was had turned Steve into a blushy mess whenever someone mentioned the other man, and, contrary to popular belief, that was a really hard thing to do.

And Clint loves that he was the one who caused it.

Steve grinned and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “That may have been because I told him that I wouldn't be home for a few more days so that I could surprise him.”

“Aww, that’s adorable,” Clint teased.

Steve shot him a playful glare before turning and heading back to the elevator.

As he walked away, Clint felt his soulmate tattoo stabbing into his neck. “Okay, okay, what?” he asked it. The tattoo sped down to his forearm and spun in circles as if it was trying to get someone’s attention. “Fine, fine. Chill.”

“Hey, Steve!” Clint hurried after Steve, holding his arm out and nearly falling on his face when he tripped on a chair. “My soulmate tattoo apparently wants to tell you something.”

Steve raised an eyebrow, but looked at his arm anyway. He gasped and his eyes widened. He grabbed Clint’s arm and looked at it closely. “I’ve seen this before,” Steve whispered, tears gathering in his eyes.

“Really?” Clint asked, half in disbelief and half in excitement. “Where? On who?”

“On Bucky.” Steve looked up at him, something like awe on his face. Clint was pretty sure he looked the same. “He always used to talk about you. His soulmate.”

Clint was speechless. Captain America’s best friend was his soulmate? _Bucky Barnes_ was his soulmate? One of the most famous snipers in history? The guy who had been his hero since he was a kid? That man was his soulmate? Clint felt like he was going to start crying.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, don’t cry,” Steve said soothingly.

Huh. Apparently he _was_ crying.

Clint sniffed, wiping his eyes. “I’m fine, I’m fine. These are happy tears.” He looked up at Steve. “At least I know my soulmate isn’t dead. I mean, there’s an international crime organization after him, but when is my life ever easy?” 

Steve smiled and pulled him into a hug. “We’re going to find him. Don’t worry.”

Clint returned the embrace and thought, _“Just you wait, Barnes. I’m coming.”_


	2. James

Something was poking the Soldier.

It had started as a little jab in his neck, but now it was a stabbing pain in his side. 

The Soldier lurched back into his safehouse and ripped off his shirt. He looked down to his side and saw a black and purple arrow jabbing him.

“What the…” The Soldier muttered. He ran a finger over the arrow. “Are you what I think you are?”

The Soldier had read about soulmate tattoos. They were supposed to match your soulmate’s perfectly. He knew that Bucky had one, but he didn’t think the Soldier did. The Asset definitely didn’t.

“Hello there,” he murmured to the tattoo. It trembled a little when he ran a finger over it. “I’m sorry, I didn't know you were there.”

The arrow bounced a little in acknowledgement before speeding up to his collarbone and resting there.

\----------

Now that he knew about it, the Soldier checked on it every morning, just so that he knew it was still there.

It has become a bit of a habit to rub it whenever the flashbacks got too bright, or his thoughts got too loud.

It was almost like it knew what the Soldier was going through.

\----------

He decided that the Soldier didn't have a soulmate, so he couldn’t be the Soldier, and he still wasn’t Bucky yet.

He would be James.

\----------

Steve had agreed immediately when Clint asked to go with him and Sam the next time.

Clint was expecting it to be awkward, since Steve didn’t consult Sam, but it wasn’t.

“Hey, man, soulmates are important,” Sam had said. He shrugged. “I mean, I don’t have one, but I still get why you want to come.”

Clint had never heard of someone not having a soulmate, but the nonchalant way Sam said it made him think that it wasn’t that big of a deal to the other man, so he didn't mention it. Sam seemed to appreciate it, too, so that was a plus.

\----------

James didn’t know who this new guy was.

He didn’t know him, but he wanted to.

So much.

The question was, why?


	3. Stay

Clint hadn’t expected to see Bucky so soon.

They were following him through Northern France when Clint got separated from the other two while they were searching a huge warehouse.

There had been no sign of Bucky, but then Clint saw an opening in the roof. It was hard to spot, but once he saw it, Clint started to see signs that someone was climbing up there regularly. A scuff mark here, a crate pushed out of alignment there.

He followed the same path and popped up out of the hole. The first thing he saw was a figure sitting in the shadows, watching the parking lot below.

The figure turned just enough to keep the corner of their eye on Clint. “Who’re you?” a voice grumbled, almost too soft for Clint to hear. Light glinted off dull metal when the figure moved.

“You’re gonna have to speak up, man,” Clint replied, sitting down close to the hole. “I’ve got hearing aids, you know.” He got comfortable, then said, “I’m Clint. How about you?”

There was a pause, as if he was debating how to respond, then the man said, “James.”

“Hello, James,” Clint replied, smiling a little. This was good. Buck- _James_ was talking! And to him!

“Hello.” James shifted so his back wasn’t to Clint anymore. This also opened up his side to the building a few hundred feet away. A glint caught Clint’s eye.

“Get down!” he yelled, and tackled James. A searing pain shot down his arm, and when he glanced down, there was a bullet hole in his shoulder. He groaned when James sat up and fired a shot across the divide between the buildings.

He watched blearily as James checked him over and put pressure on the wound. Everything was a bit blurry after that, but he vaguely remembers being lifted into someone’s arms.

\----------

James didn’t know why he did it. 

He didn’t even know the guy. Why the hell did he do this?

James stared at the guy lying across his lap. He had taken Clint to Steve and the other guy and was going to leave, but just couldn’t bring himself to. The guy with the wings had patched Clint up as best he could before they got in a car and began to drive to the rendezvous point where they would be picked up by a quinjet.

Steve and the other guy were up front while James was in back, keeping Clint steady so his shoulder wasn’t jostled.

With a groan, Clint blinked open his eyes and stared blearily up at James. He smiled blearily and pressed his face into James’ stomach.

James felt his face heat up, and it freaked him out a little. This had never happened to him before, and he had no clue why Clint’s actions affected him like this.

“We’re two minutes from the rendezvous point,” Steve called back to him. A small part of his mind prayed that Steve wouldn’t notice the red on his face.

“Why don’t I want him to see?” James wondered, confused with his brain’s response.

\----------

When Clint woke up, his hearing aids weren’t in his ears, and there was someone holding his hand.

Clint picked his head up and looked around what appeared to be his room in the Tower. He blew out a breath in relief. He hated hospitals almost as much as Tony did.

The hand in his twitched. He looked over to see James, slumped over in a chair, fast asleep.

Clint smiled. _“Good,”_ he thought. _“He looked like he need a good night’s sleep.”_

He looked up when Natasha slipped into the room. “I’m surprised he can sleep in an unfamiliar place,” she signed.

With one hand trapped, Clint couldn’t really sign much back, so he just shrugged his shoulder, then winced at the pain.

“The doctors wanted to give you the good stuff,” Natasha signed. “But I told them that you wouldn’t want to be that out of it.”

Clint shot her a confused look. He didn’t really care what painkillers they gave him.

“I thought he might panic if you were all doped up,” she signed, nodding to James.

Clint nodded in understanding. That probably wouldn’t have been good. He yawned. Getting shot took a lot out of him.

Natasha looked like she wanted to say something else, but James shifted like he was waking up, so she just slipped back out of the room.

James looked absolutely adorable. His hair was messed up, and his face had lines all over it from the sleeve of his shirt.

When he saw that Clint was awake, James sat up straighter and started to get up.

“No. Stay,” Clint said, yawning again. He got comfy under his blankets and clutched James’ hand tighter.

James nodded and sat back down as Clint drifted off to sleep.


End file.
